So yesterday there was no post because I was very lucky to have lunch with my mom. I don’t get to see her quite often enough, so it was a real treat. Reminded me how much I have to be thankful for, because there are a lot of people that aren’t so lucky.

Continuing on with trying to remember how fortunate we are in this week of turkey craziness……

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. ~John F. Kennedy

It’s the time of year when we give a lot of thought to what we have and what makes us lucky and happy. Basically, it is the time of the year to stop bitching and complaining about what we don’t have enough of – be it time, money, friends, work and to start recognizing what we do have. It is simply a time of the year to take stock of our lives and to enjoy the moment. All too often, especially in this country, we are bombarded with wanting more, needing more, demanding more and we rarely take the time to examine what we have, and how lucky we are for what we have in our lives at this moment in time.

For many, the next week starts a spiral of stress. The beginning of the holiday season all too often brings with it stress, social pressure to attend this event and that party, time management issues how to work and shop and do all those wonderful Martha Stewart-like things that we feel guilty that we don’t have the time or the money or the patience to deal with but we think that we should. Newspaper and magazine articles and blog postings are replete with tips for the “perfect” Thanksgiving dinner, turkey, pie, side dish, appetizer, table setting, house decorations – you name it, and someone, somewhere has the “perfect” tip to make you feel miserable, incompetent and less than perfect.

To quell your anxiety and mine and put life back into perspective, both for this Thanksgiving and the upcoming holidays, take a breath and read this post. Realize that the background of this family is that one of their children has leukemia. Keep them in your thoughts and prayers as I am certain they would appreciate all that they can get. Realize that your life, however miserable you think it is, or how sorry you might feel for yourself with all you have to do in the upcoming weeks, really isn’t all that bad and you really have a lot to be thankful for. I know that I am thinking exactly that this holiday and realizing just how fortunate we are as a family and how lucky I am as wife.

Today is a pretty rainy day. But a good day to reflect on the good things in life. I got an email from Grace in small things which reminded me I have a lot of reasons to be thankful. Here are today’s Five:

1. the soothing sound of rain falling

2. a really nice week with Tom

3. the boys come home tomorrow and life resumes as normal – the way it’s supposed to be.

In this turbulent world these days, I think we are too often bombarded with negative news, be it people we know that are losing their jobs, losing their houses, companies that are falling apart and in general news that the world is crumbling around us. As Americans, we are obsessed with excess, we want the bigger house, the better car, more things. Our meals are king sized and super sized. We are trained to not be content with what we do have, we are constantly told we need more, different, bigger, better. We are a greedy and arrogant lot. We all too often do not sit back and be grateful for and content with what we have. I am not advocating complacency or laziness but rather simple contentment. A trait that is, sadly, pretty much, unthought of in our society. We often spend our lives working toward the bigger or the better that sadly we often times do not enjoy our lives at all. We should relish what and who we have in our lives. We should reflect and be grateful for those things and people in our lives that others are not as fortunate to have. The things that are immeasurable and cannot be bought – such as love, family, friends and our health. These are the things that we often take for granted — until we are alone, isolated and ill.

Often, we hear that youth is wasted on the young. That with age comes wisdom. These adages speak some truths. We often are reckless enough to fail to realize that sometimes we have the most important things, the things we really need, right in front of us.